Contents
Volume ii
list of illustrations
vii
19 – Historical and social Contexts
aNDERs aNDRéN
391
20 – laws and assemblies
sTEfaN BRiNK
445
21 – Ethics
JoHN liNDoW
479
22 – gender
JUDy QUiNN
509
23 – Kings and Rulers
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
529
24 – Warrior Bands
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
559
25 – Various Ways of Communicating
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
589
26 – Magic and Religion
sTEPHEN a. MiTCHEll
643
vi
Contents
27 – Ritual space
ToRUN ZaCHRissoN and aNDERs aNDRéN
671
28 – Ritual Time and Time Reckoning
aNDREas NoRDBERg
725
29 – Cultic leaders and Religious specialists
olof sUNDqVisT
739
30 – Crisis Rituals
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
781
31 – Cyclical Rituals
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
797
32 – Passage Rituals
JENs PETER sCHJøDT
823
33 – Death Ritual and Mortuary Behaviour
NEil PRiCE
853
34 – Worlds of the Dead
JoHN liNDoW and aNDERs aNDRéN
897
35 – fate
JoHN liNDoW
927
36 – The Divine, the Human, and in Between
JoHN liNDoW and JENs PETER sCHJøDT
951
list of illustrations
Chapter 19 – Historical and Social Contexts
figure 19.1. inhumation grave from Birka with a set of weapons,
interpreted as a grave for a man. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
figure 19.2. Rune stone at Hassmyra in fläckebo in Västmanland. . . . . . . . . . 393
figure 19.3. iron neck-ring from Birka, interpreted as a fetter for a slave. . . 394
figure 19.4. arable fields from the early iron age at stånga on gotland.. . . 397
figure 19.5. Reconstructed cross-section of a longhouse
from the iron age. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
figure 19.6. Plan of a large farm at Övetorp in algutsrum on Öland, from the third to the sixth/seventh centuries ce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
figure 19.7. an iron age village at Rosendal in Böda on Öland.. . . . . . . . . . . . 404
figure 19.8. The early iron age village at Hodde in Jylland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
figure 19.9. Reconstruction of an iron age farm
at Ullandhaug in Rogaland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
figure 19.10. Map of central places and early towns
in southern scandinavia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
figure 19.11. Plan of Tissø on sjælland showing archaeological
excavations, find spots, and the former extent of the lake Tissø. . . . . . . . . . 412
figure 19.12. Reconstruction of the central place Uppåkra in skåne in the tenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
figure 19.13. The so-called royal mounds in gamla Uppsala
in Uppland, with remains of the former cathedral.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
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list of iLLUSTRATIONS
figure 19.14. Plan of Helgö in Uppland, with house terraces
and burial grounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
figure 19.15. aerial photo of the flat settlement area at Birka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
figure 19.16. Reconstruction of Hedeby at Viking Museum Haithabu. . . . . 420
figure 19.17. Plan of Kaupang, with settlements
and surrounding burial grounds.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
figure 19.18. Map of scandinavia and major regional names
for different parts of the scandi navian agrarian settlement.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
figure 19.19. Map of the medieval province of småland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
figure 19.20. Weapon deposits in southern scandinavia
and the approximate area of many hundreds of hillforts
and ringforts in central scandinavia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
figure 19.21. The burial ground at Valsgärde in Uppland,
from the fifth to the eleventh centuries.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
figure 19.22. important places during the formation
of the Danish Christian state in the late tenth century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Chapter 20 – Laws and Assemblies
figure 20.1. Roman altar from Hadrian’s wall, with a votive
inscription to Mars Thingsus, interpreted as a reference
to the germanic god Tīwaz/Týr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447
figure 20.2. The icelandic alþingi (general assembly) site at Þingvellir.. . . . . 454
figure 20.3. The assembly site at Bällsta, ‘arkels tingstad’
in Vallentuna in Uppland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
figure 20.4. anundshög at Badelunda in Västmanland
and a tall rune stone erected in front of the mound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
figure 20.5. an iron ring from forsa in Hälsingland,
dated probably to the ninth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
figure 20.6. The opening page of the Older Gulaþing Law, Codex Rantzovianus.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465
list of iLLUSTRATIONS * *
ix
Chapter 21 – Ethics
figure 21.1. Rune stone from about 1000, later built into
the medieval church at Hällestad in skåne.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484
figure 21.2. The runic monument at Björketorp in Blekinge
from the seventh century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493
figure 21.3. Rune stone at Rörbro in Nöttja in finnveden
(south-west småland) from *c. * 1000.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502
Chapter 22 – Gender
figure 22.1. Reconstruction of a possible vǫlva grave at fyrkat in northern Jylland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
Chapter 23 – Kings and Rulers
figure 23.1. a sceptre from the royal ship burial at sutton Hoo
in suffolk, dated to the early seventh century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
figure 23.2. an eyebrow of a helmet from Uppåkra in skåne,
dated to the seventh or eighth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
figure 23.3. Drinking vessels from rich inhumation graves, dated to the third and fourth centuries, from Himlingøje in stevns on sjælland. . . . . 542
figure 23.4. a large grave-mound at inglinge in Östra Torsås
in Värend (southern småland). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
figure 23.5. Example of the first swedish coins, minted by
olof skötkonung in sigtuna. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Chapter 24 – Warrior Bands
figure 24.1. The geometrically planned ringfort at fyrkat
in central Jylland, dated to the 980s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
figure 24.2. Destroyed weapons from the large weapon deposit
at illerup in central Jylland, from about 200 ce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
figure 24.3. Reconstruction of a warrior dressed in a bear skin, based on a grave from Hjärterum in Kuddy in Östergötland,
dated to about 100 bce.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
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list of iLLUSTRATIONS
figure 24.4. Plan of the fortified hilltop settlement at Runsa
in Ed in Uppland, dated to the fifth and sixth centuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
figure 24.5. Plan of a hall in Birka, dated to the tenth century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
figure 24.6. Bronze matrices for producing helmet plates,
dated to *c. * 600, found at Björnhovda in Torslunda on Öland. . . . . . . . . . . . 576
figure 24.7. Detail of the top panel of the picture stone from Hunninge in Klinte on gotland, dated to the ninth or tenth century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
Chapter 25 – Various Ways of Communicating
figure 25.1. Panel from the gundestrup cauldron, dated to
the second or first centuries bce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
figure 25.2. Horse skull pierced by a flint dagger,
from a bog at Ullstorp in skåne.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
figure 25.3. The bog body from Tollund in central Jylland,
dated to about 375–210 bce.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
figure 25.4. Picture stone from stora Hammars in lärbro
on gotland, dated to the ninth or tenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
figure 25.5. a procession of men, women, and carriages on one
of the tapestries from oseberg, dated to the early ninth century. . . . . . . . . 631
figure 25.6. Plan of a ritual road at Rösaring in låssa in Uppland, dated to the Viking age. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
Chapter 26 – Magic and Religion
figure 26.1. Runic amulet of bronze from Högstena in Västergötland.. . . . . 660
figure 26.2. fragment of a human skull dated to the eighth century, from Ribe in Jylland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
figure 26.3. Runic amulet from Kvinneby on Öland,
dated to the eleventh century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662
figure 26.4. Runic inscription from søndre søstergården in Bergen, dated to the twelfth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663
figure 26.5. House from the village of Vallhagar on gotland,
dated between the third and the sixth centuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
list of iLLUSTRATIONS * *
xi
Chapter 27 – Ritual Space
figure 27.1. The weapon deposit site of Ejsbøl mose in southern Jylland, surrounded by rising shore lines that created a natural theatre. . . . . . . . . . . 674
figure 27.2. a wooden figure from the ritual site at forlev Nymølle in middle Jylland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
figure 27.3. Two stone heads from Ravlunda in skåne. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 676
figure 27.4. important ritual sites from the iron age in scandinavia. . . . . . . 679
figure 27.5. Plan of Käringsjön in Halland, with ritual deposits along the shorelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
figure 27.6. The bog body from grauballe in central Jylland,
dated to the early third century bce.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
figure 27.7. Excavation of deposited human bones at alken Enge,
in central Jylland, from the early first century ce.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
figure 27.8. Roman bronze figure from lake fysingen in Uppland. . . . . . . . . . 688
figure 27.9. Destroyed weapons and other equipment
from the former lake at illerup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 690
figure 27.10. an exquisite Viking age sword, with a gilded sword-hilt, deposited at Dybäck in skåne.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 692
figure 27.11. Remains of a boat deposited at Kvalsund
in Møre and Romsdal.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
figure 27.12. gold collar deposited at Ålleberg in Västergötland. . . . . . . . . . . 696
figure 27.13. Plan of the ritual building at Uppåkra with distribution of gold foil figures and a tentative reconstruction of the house.. . . . . . . . . . 698
figure 27.14. Plan of the central part of Helgö, building group 2, including the main hall and distribution of ritual deposits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
figure 27.15. Plan of the central part of Tissø, including the
main hall and the ritual building within an enclosure.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
figure 27.16. Plan of gamla Uppsala, including grave mounds,
house terraces, ritual roads, ordinary settlement, and minor
burial grounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704
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list of iLLUSTRATIONS
figure 27.17. Wooden figure from a bog at Rude Eskildstrup
on sjælland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 706
figure 27.18. a stone altar, with a stone face and stone troughs at Rossland in Rogaland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
figure 27.19. Reconstruction of a ritual building at Borg
in Östergötland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
figure 27.20. Plan of Hofstaðir in northern iceland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 709
figure 27.21. Plan of frösvi in Närke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 711
figure 27.22. aerial view of the sacred grove in lunda,
northern södermanland, during excavation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712
figure 27.23. Plan of götavi in Närke.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713
figure 27.24. Plan of the ritual site at lilla Ullevi
in southern Uppland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714
figure 27.25. large rings with three smaller rings attached
from lilla Ullevi in southern Uppland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
figure 27.26. Map of the former lake skedemosse and its surroundings. . . 717
Chapter 28 – Ritual Time and Time Reckoning
figure 28.1. Runic calendar staff from from Nyköping
in södermanland, dated to the thirteenth century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732
Chapter 29 – Cultic Leaders and Religious Specialists
figure 29.1. Runic amulet of bone from lindholmen in skåne,
dated to about 400–550. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748
figure 29.2. The rune stone at snoldelev in sjælland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
figure 29.3. a panel on the picture stone from Tängelgårda
on gotland, dated to the ninth or tenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
figure 29.4. The top of an iron staff, with a representation of a house.. . . . . . 778
list of iLLUSTRATIONS * *
xiii
Chapter 30 – Crisis Rituals
figure 30.1. ship from the weapon deposit at Nydam
in southern Jylland. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783
figure 30.2. a staff of yew from a bog at Hemdrup in skarp salling in Himmerland, northern Jylland, dated to the ninth or tenth century.. . . . 785
figure 30.3. an attempt to reconstruct the dress and equipment
of Þorbjǫrg lítilvǫlva. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791
Chapter 31 – Cyclical Rituals
figure 31.1. Plan of the central part of lejre, with halls
and possible ritual buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
figure 31.2. Reconstruction of the main hall at gamla Uppsala
in the seventh and eighth centuries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Chapter 32 – Passage Rituals
figure 32.1. a richly furnished grave of a girl about ten years old, at ire in Hellvi on gotland, from the tenth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827
figure 32.2. a gold foil figure with an embracing couple
from Krokek in Östergötland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828
figure 32.3. ‘Mora stenar’ according to olaus Magnus in
Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, a history of the Nordic people, printed in Rome in 1555. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843
Chapter 33 – Death Ritual and Mortuary Behaviour
figure 33.1. Burial ground consisting of mounds at Kånna in
finnveden (south-western småland) from the late iron age. . . . . . . . . . . . 865
figure 33.2. a cremation grave with a Þórr’s hammer ring placed on top of the urn, from the burial ground in söderby on lovö, Uppland. . . . . . . 866
figure 33.3. Burial ground at Trullhalsar in anga on gotland,
dated to the late iron age.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
figure 33.4. Excavation of a grave at gnista
in the parish of Danmark in Uppland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871
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list of iLLUSTRATIONS
figure 33.5. Woman buried in a carriage at a small burial ground by the ringfort fyrkat in northern Jylland from the late tenth century.. . . . . 873
figure 33.6. one of the richly furnished inhumation graves at
Himlingøje in stevns on sjælland, dated to the third century ce. . . . . . . . 874
figure 33.7. The ship-setting ‘ales stenar’ at Kåseberga on the
south coast of skåne, probably constructed in the sixth century. . . . . . . . . 876
figure 33.8. aerial view of the burial ground at lindholm Høje
in Vendsyssel in northern Jylland, dated to the late iron age.. . . . . . . . . . . 879
figure 33.9. Reconstruction of a chamber grave in Birka,
with the dead woman seated in the grave.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 881
figure 33.10. Reconstruction of the final phase of the burial
at oseberg in Vestfold in 834. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883
figure 33.11. Raknehaugen in Ullensaker in akershus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887
figure 33.12. Double inhumation grave from the eighth century
in Birka. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 888
figure 33.13. Reconstruction of the burial of seven men in the
small boat grave at salme on saaremaa (Ösel) in Estonia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891
Chapter 34 – Worlds of the Dead
figure 34.1. The picture stone from ardre on gotland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
figure 34.2. Boat grave at Valsgärde in Uppland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908
figure 34.3. The richly decorated carriage from the boat grave
at oseberg in Vestfold. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906
figure 34.4. four mounds with ‘south-west gates’ at the
burial ground of Tuna in Västerljung in södermanland.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919
Chapter 35 – Fate
figure 35.1. a so called ‘weaving sword’ from Våga
in oppland, Norway, dated to the Viking age. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
figure 35.2. Rune stone at Tumbo in södermanland,
dated to about 1000.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
list of iLLUSTRATIONS * *
xv
Chapter 36 – The Divine, the Human, and In Between
figure 36.1. Detail of the picture stone at ardre on gotland,
dated to the ninth century.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 969
figure 36.2. Weland the smith on the front panel of the franks casket, an anglo-saxon casket from the early eighth century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 970
figure 36.3. a ‘birdman’ from Uppåkra, inter preted as Vǫlundr. . . . . . . . . . . . 971
figure 36.4. Three depictions of important events
in the life of sigurðr fáfnisbani. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974